Dear Prudence is Slate’s advice column. Submit questions here .

Dear Prudence,

My mother has always been very involved in her Catholic church. I’m recovering after a childhood filled with propaganda about shame and celibacy, but that’s not my reason for writing in.

Just under two months ago, one of my mother’s closest friends, “Sister Mary Clarence,” passed away at the age of 90. My mother had known her since childhood, as she was one of her teachers at her private Catholic school. The insane thing is that now my mother has gotten it into her head that she needs to become a nun herself to continue Sister Mary Clarence’s work. Although she is devout, my mother would be ill-suited to a life in a convent. How can I talk her out of this?

—Nun Nonsense

Dear Nun,

Let her go for it

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